community-led conservation Archives

Community marks World Saltmarsh Day on protected Bullock Island

by BDL Team | Jun 11, 2026 | Community engagement, Land protection

To mark World Saltmarsh Day on 11 June, around 35 community members, environmental partners, scientists, donors, volunteers, local media, photographers and nature lovers visited Bullock Island in South Gippsland — one of two Corner Inlet islands now protected forever by Nooramunga Land & Sea.

With perfect weather, clear skies and barely a breath of wind, the group explored Bullock Island’s remarkable mix of grassland, saltmarsh, shoreline and open views across the inlet to Wilsons Promontory.

Hosted by BioDiversity Legacy (BDL), with lunch generously provided by Carbon Landscapes, the visit was guided by two founding members of Nooramunga Land & Sea — Tim D’Ombrain and Dr Steve Enticott — along with BDL Biolink Coordinator Stuart Inchley. Together, they offered guests an intimate, first-hand experience of the beauty, biodiversity and quiet power of this protected place.

Nooramunga Land & Sea acquired the adjacent Little Dog Island in 2022. The addition of Bullock Island in 2025 has strengthened this community-led conservation story, securing more of Corner Inlet’s precious saltmarsh and coastal habitat for the long term (read more about Nooramunga Land & Sea here).

World Saltmarsh Day, established by the UK’s Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, celebrates the extraordinary value of saltmarsh ecosystems — places rich in biodiversity that provide habitat for birds and marine life, store carbon, filter water and help protect coastlines. On Bullock Island, that value was easy to see.

The photo gallery below brings together images from people who joined us on the day, each capturing a different view of a landscape now protected for nature, community and future generations.

Photos below thanks to Dr Steve Enticott, Robyn Gower and Trevor Forge.

Bullock Island photo by Robyn Gower_5486

How Connecting Wildlife is Helping the South Coast Protect Land for Good

by BDL Team | May 27, 2026 | Community engagement, Land protection

When around 80 people gathered at the Eurobodalla Regional Botanic Gardens on 9 May to learn about Connecting Wildlife, it was more than a community information event. It was a turning point.

The event marked an important transition: the official launch of Connecting Wildlife as a locally governed organisation, and the first introduction for many attendees to the model that underpins it.

It reflected the organisation’s evolution from one established and supported by BioDiversity Legacy into a locally led conservation entity now governed by a regional board committed to protecting habitat across the South Coast.

Connecting Wildlife is one of the first Local Landholding Entities (LLEs) established through BioDiversity Legacy’s pioneering LLE model, and its emergence marks an important milestone for community-led conservation on the NSW South Coast and beyond.

In the room were people with deep connections to the Eurobodalla region. They were people who had watched development pressure creep closer to high-value bushland; people who had lived through the devastation of the Black Summer fires; and people who had already worked hard to protect important parcels of habitat in the region, often against significant challenges.

What they heard that day was that Connecting Wildlife is living proof that BioDiversity Legacy’s LLE model empowers communities to protect critical habitat – permanently.

The Backstory

Connecting Wildlife board member Courtenay Fink-Downes told the audience that the seeds of Connecting Wildlife grew out of frustration.

“Several years ago, a group of us tried to protect a few hectares of land near Mossy Point,” she explained.

“Though small in size, the property was ecologically significant — containing an intact threatened ecological community, habitat for Yellow-bellied Gliders, feed trees for Glossy Black-Cockatoos, and important landscape connectivity.

“The ecological value was recognised, but no organisation was in a position to take responsibility for the land. So, we had to walk away.”

That experience highlighted a broader gap within the conservation system: local communities were identifying and mobilising around high-value conservation opportunities, but there were very few mechanisms available to help them securely hold and steward land over the long term.

What this group was experiencing was not an isolated problem, nor was it unique to their region. It was a clear example of a recurring structural gap within the conservation landscape — one that continues to place important habitats at risk despite strong local commitment to protecting them.

It is this broader system gap that BioDiversity Legacy was established to help address – creating pathways that enable communities, conservation groups and local stewardship organisations to secure, hold and protect ecologically significant land that might otherwise be lost.

Finding the Mechanism

The pathway forward began to take shape when Connecting Wildlife board member Julie Taylor Mills learned about BioDiversity Legacy’s Local Landholding Entity model. She quickly realised it could be the ideal vehicle to protect an 80-acre property near Meringo, south of Moruya, that young local naturalist Ned McNaughton had identified as vulnerable to subdivision.

For Julie, it was the missing piece.

The strategy moving forward was twofold:

First, enable Connecting Wildlife as a not-for-profit conservation organisation to purchase and secure the property – now proudly known as Ned’s Forest – to protect and restore habitat connectivity for wildlife.
Second, over time, transition the governance of Connecting Wildlife to a locally governed structure that could hold the land securely while enabling genuine local stewardship.

BioDiversity Legacy's role

BioDiversity Legacy’s role in this story has been catalytic and foundational. Working alongside the local community, it established Connecting Wildlife as a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee, enabled the legal structure required to hold land securely, and supported the acquisition of Ned’s Forest.

Since then, BDL has continued to support Connecting Wildlife, including facilitating a Biodiversity Conservation Trust covenant over the property and registering it as a Wildlife Land Trust site.

At the same time, it has supported the transition toward a locally governed board — one capable not only of overseeing Ned’s Forest, but of holding future conservation opportunities as they arise.

Dixie Fitzclarence, BDL’s Head of Conservation, Engagement and Partnerships, explained the mechanics of the model to the crowd:

“In practical terms, an LLE can hold the land title securely. Its constitution, governance and purpose are all designed to ensure the land stays protected. But the day-to-day care of each place can be carried out by whoever is best placed locally — community groups, neighbours, Landcare networks or ecological specialists.

“This separation between ownership and stewardship is one of the quiet innovations of the model. Land can be protected permanently, while stewardship remains flexible and locally responsive.”

This is the changemaking role BioDiversity Legacy plays. It does not replace local leadership; it makes local leadership possible.

From Ned’s Forest to a Regional Platform

Ned’s Forest is the first property protected by Connecting Wildlife, but it is not the endpoint. It is the beginning of something broader — a locally governed conservation vehicle capable of responding to opportunities across the South Coast as they arise.

As the event wound down over tea and biscuits, attendees began sharing their own stories — of land they had tried to protect, of habitat under pressure, and of new possibilities they could now imagine through Connecting Wildlife.

For many in the room, the significance was clear: this was no longer just about a single property. It was about a structure that makes lasting, community-led conservation possible.

And that changes what can be protected — and by whom.

Connecting Wildlife is part of a growing network of Local Landholding Entities emerging across Australia through BioDiversity Legacy’s national LLE framework — a coordinated model for establishing locally governed conservation organisations capable of securely holding and stewarding land across different landscapes and regions.

BioDiversity Legacy will continue to play a supporting role in Connecting Wildlife’s journey — providing governance and technical support where needed, strengthening organisational systems, and ensuring the integrity and continuity of the LLE model as it expands into new landscapes and communities.

Photo top (left to right): Connecting Wildlife Board Courtney Fink-Downes, Shannon Leard, Julie Taylor Mills and Jim Phillipson celebrate the official launch of Connecting Wildlife.

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Community Secures Major Win for Painkalac Valley Wetlands

by BDL Team | May 25, 2026 | Land protection, Media releases

Nearly 30 hectares of the Painkalac Valley – the largest and most significant estuarine wetland on Victoria’s Great Ocean Road – will now be protected and restored following a lease agreement secured by BioDiversity Legacy.

The Painkalac Project is a locally driven initiative that will see the return of a working floodplain with significant benefits to the area.

The benefits include an increase in the numbers and species of indigenous flora and fauna. A smaller private restoration project further up the valley has seen dormant seeds of wetland plants regrow and many animal, insect and wetland-dependent bird species return to an enriched environment over the past seven years.

A working floodplain will reduce downstream flood risks by diverting water into ephemeral wetlands and lower the number of artificial openings of the inlet needed to release excess river flow.

Allowing the floodplain to recover and retain more water in the valley soil will also result in a cleaner creek as its waters are filtered by the wetlands.

Community action

The new future for the valley has been made possible through a donation from two local community members – both long-standing members of local community groups – the Anglesea and Aireys Inlet Society for the Protection of Flora and Fauna (Angair) and the Aireys Inlet and District Association (AIDA).

The donation has provided funds for the acquisition of the existing 99-year lease, as well as providing money to support the long-term management of the land.

A community-based organisation, the Painkalac Project, will manage the land. The group will be guided by a science-based masterplan for the ecological restoration of the valley, which will be developed in consultation with the local community and relevant organisations, including CFA, Forest Fire Management, DEECA, Barwon Water, the Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority, the Corangamite Catchment Management Authority, the Surf Coast Shire, AIDA and Angair.

The group looks forward to working with the Wadawurrung Aboriginal Corporation as the plan is developed and implemented.

Painkalac Project featured in The Sunday Age on 7 June 2026.

The Painkalac Project made front-page news, featuring on the cover of The Sunday Age on 7 June 2026.

Painkalac Valley – view towards Aireys Inlet.

Painkalac Valley Floodplain 4

BioDiversity Legacy’s support

BioDiversity Legacy has developed a pioneering approach to protecting land for biodiversity by supporting the establishment of community-governed not-for-profits and facilitating the transfer of land titles into these safe ownership structures. These not-for-profits – called Local Landholding Entities – are purpose-built with effective governance to ensure that conservation properties are protected into the future.

The approach benefits people as well as biodiversity, as it enables individuals and communities to ensure the ongoing protection of natural spaces that are valuable to them, beyond their lifetimes.

BioDiversity Legacy provided considerable support that made the Painkalac Project possible, including working closely with the landholders, community members, and liaising with partners, lawyers and others that enabled the land to be secured for future generations.

“We’re just so excited to see this project come into fruition for the Painkalac communities, and to have played our part in making it possible,” said BioDiversity Legacy’s Jyoti Kala.

“BioDiversity Legacy is a not-for-profit, and we don’t charge a fee for the services we provide. We rely on philanthropic donations, grants, and voluntary contributions from those who value our work. We invite those who benefit from our services to make a tax-deductible donation in support of our mission.”

Beyond Grassroots: How Hyperlocal Networks Are Transforming Conservation

by BDL Team | Mar 11, 2026 | Community engagement

Change often begins with a conversation over a cup of tea.

At BioDiversity Legacy, we’re often described as working at the “grassroots” of conservation.

To most people, the term grassroots means community-led action, which we support and champion, but we also see conservation unfolding on an even more intimate, fluid scale through what we call hyperlocal networks.

These networks form when neighbours, landholders or individuals with a deep connection to a species or landscape begin sharing knowledge, concerns and ideas about protecting the places they love. Often centred on a single ecosystem, they represent a decentralised, community-driven approach to environmental care and stewardship.

In fact, these place-based relationships have helped lay the foundations for several BioDiversity Legacy projects, including Nooramunga Land & Sea and Connecting Wildlife.

Hyperlocal networks hold enormous potential, but they often need the right connectors to bring people, knowledge and opportunities together. That’s where BioDiversity Legacy’s Biolink Coordinators come in.

Turning care into action

Residing in regions around Australia, our Biolink Coordinators are embedded in the community and empowered to translate local care for nature into practical conservation outcomes by:

Building trusted relationships within and across communities and regions
Facilitating regional biolinks that connect habitats and landscapes
Identifying conservation opportunities that might otherwise be overlooked.
Guiding landholders through pathways to protect their land

These coordinators don’t impose solutions. Instead, they guide, facilitate and catalyse conservation in ways that are locally appropriate, practical and enduring.

The power of a conversation

Much of this work begins in simple, human ways – a discussion at a local event, a shared interest in wildlife, or a landholder wondering what might happen to their property in the future.

We jokingly refer to this engagement as a ‘Cuppa Conservation’ — the idea that meaningful conservation often begins by sitting down, listening and building trust.

Not every conversation leads immediately to land protection. But every conversation strengthens the relationships that make conservation possible. Over time, those conversations begin to connect.

From small conversations to lasting impact

Research increasingly shows our instincts about hyperlocal networks are correct.

As Professor Ashley Dawson writes in Environmentalism from Below (2024), “Conservation succeeds when it is embedded in community values; when the voices and profiles of individuals and groups who inspire others are amplified, and when the natural power of social networks is leveraged to spread the message that local people can change the world.”

A model for the future

The future of conservation will not be led by government alone. It will be built by people who care deeply about place, supported by trusted local leaders who can help turn intention into action.

BioDiversity Legacy’s Biolink Coordinators are helping lead that shift by acting as connectors and facilitators, turning conversations into collaborations – and collaborations into protected landscapes.

Connecting Country: Growing a Landscape Vision on the Far South Coast

by BDL Team | Nov 6, 2025 | Land connection, Partnerships and collaborations

BioDiversity Legacy (BDL) is engaging with a growing number of landholders on the Far South Coast of New South Wales who are interested in exploring how BDL’s land protection pathways can not only safeguard individual properties but help communities connect their landscapes and expand their conservation ambitions.

In October, BDL Communities & Stewardship Manager, Robyn Edwards, visited a remarkable 27-ha property adjoining Tilba Tilba Lake in the Gulaga/Eurobodalla region that has been lovingly restored over the past 45 years by members of the Tilba Lake Community (TLC).

The property, once cleared and degraded, has been transformed into a thriving haven for biodiversity, with over 200 bird species recorded, a healthy Diamond Python population, returning Long-nosed Bandicoots and nationally endangered species, including the Glossy Black-Cockatoo and Hooded Plover.

During the visit, Robyn joined Local Land Services NSW and TLC members Geoff Pryor, Noel Pratt, Dr Liz Dennis and her son, Dr Clancy Dennis, in a wide-ranging conversation about the property’s natural and cultural values, land transition pathways and the Biosphere Region proposal originally developed by the Tilba Environment Landcare Group as part of the Tilba Chamber of Commerce strategy review in the wake of the 2019–20 bushfires.

“A big part of our role at BioDiversity Legacy is guiding communities through a progression - from connection and learning to agency, active hope and, ultimately, positive, lasting conservation pathways,” says Robyn.

“It was inspiring to meet the landholders, learn about the Yuin people’s connection to Country and see how the Tilba property has been brought back to life. We’ll do what we can to support this group and the wider community to pursue their landscape vision.”

Photo top: Shareholders of the Tilba Lake Community Pty Ltd property enjoyed conversations with BioDiversity Legacy's Robyn Edwards. Left to right: Noel and Geoff Pryor, Robyn Edwards, Liz Dennis and son Clancy.

Empowering Landholders and Communities: Reflections from the 2025 ALCA Conference

by BDL Team | Oct 15, 2025 | Events and talks, Partnerships and collaborations

In October, BioDiversity Legacy joined landholders, Traditional Owners, scientists, and conservation organisations from around the country at the 2025 Australian Land Conservation Alliance Conference, held in Gimuy (Cairns).

The conference theme - Scaling Up: Local Action for Global Solutions - echoed what drives our work at BioDiversity Legacy every day: empowering and facilitating landholders and communities to protect the land they love - from early steps in land stewardship to formal and lasting protection.

Shared purpose and momentum

The Australian Land Conservation Alliance (ALCA) is the national peak body for organisations working in private land conservation, bringing together people who are actively restoring and safeguarding nature on privately managed land. This year’s event created a powerful space for sharing knowledge, building partnerships and exploring innovative models for long-term protection.

BioDiversity Legacy was proud to be announced as one of ALCA’s newest member organisations, alongside the National Landcare Network - a milestone that reflects our growing role in this national movement (see the full list of ALCA members here).

Contributing to the conversation

BioDiversity Legacy staff were delighted to play an active role in the Land Conservation Forum for Landholders on Tuesday, 7 October, with our Head of Conservation Engagement & Partnerships, Dixie Fitzclarence, co-presenting a session with Andrew and Angus Cleary from Nuggan Sanctuary, who shared their family’s inspiring conservation journey and their work to secure lasting protection for their land.

BioDiversity Legacy's Far North Queensland Biolink Coordinator, Keith Smith (who is also involved in Queensland’s Private Protected Area Program), participated in the Ask an Expert session, offering insights into land management and conservation practices.

"The week was filled with insight and connection. MC Sean Dooley kept spirits high and Peter Garrett’s closing remarks left the room energised for the road ahead. We left Cairns inspired and looking forward to reconnecting with everyone in Lutruwita/Tasmania next October for ALCA26 and in Naarm/Melbourne for the 2027 International Land Conservation Network Global Congress,” said Dixie.

Two islands, one vision – safeguarding Corner Inlet’s saltmarsh communities

by BDL Team | Sep 2, 2025 | Land connection, Media releases, Stewardship

BioDiversity Legacy’s bold vision for protecting vulnerable ecosystems at scale is being realised in South Gippsland, where Nooramunga Land & Sea (NL&S) has acquired its second saltmarsh island in Corner Inlet.

Bullock Island joins neighbouring Little Dog Island as part of a growing legacy of land protected within the iconic Corner Inlet – a Ramsar-listed wetland of international significance.

Both islands were previously zoned for farming and recreational use, placing over 132-ha (330-acres) of valuable coastal saltmarsh at risk. In fact, the 60-hectare Little Dog Island was previously developed as a golf resort, which caused significant damage.

With funding from the Upotipotpon Foundation and support from Biodiversity Legacy, the NL&S team secured the island, with the stewardship team about to conduct surveys and monitoring to see what's on the island and undertake habitat restoration and enhancement works to protect vulnerable species and help them thrive.

Land protection and stewardship team

The NL&S team consists of leading ecologists, environmental philanthropists, carbon landscape experts and researchers with deep roots in ecological restoration and land protection. They include:

Karl Just
Tim D’Ombrain
Dr Steve Enticott (Carbon Landscapes)
Kristin Monie (Ecological Researcher)
Jim Phillipson, Strategic Director, Rendere Environmental Trust.

Rendere also provided support for the initiative, with volunteers, local landholders, Traditional Owners, citizen scientists and community partners also invited to collaborate on efforts to protect these landscapes, which are vital for biodiversity, carbon storage and climate resilience.

A Living Mosaic

Framed by Wilson’s Promontory to the south and South Gippsland’s green hills to the north, the 72-ha Bullock Island presents a rich tapestry of native grasses, salt-tolerant shrubs, Swamp Paperbark and colourful succulents, such as Beaded and Shrubby Glassworts, Pigface, Austral Seablite and Austral Brooklime.

Like many of the sandy islands in Corner Inlet, Bullock Island’s intertidal mudflats and waters support large areas of White Mangrove and Broad-leafed Seagrass; communities of limited distribution in Victoria.

Shrubby glasswort on Bullock Island – a critical food source for native parrots, particularly the critically endangered Orange-bellied Parrot.

Volunteers departing Little Dog Island after a day of exploration and restoration works.

Grassy causeway to Bullock Island.

Team members traversing the causeway to Bullock Island.

Shrubby Glasswort.

Tapestry of saltmarsh species on Little Dog Island.

Sanctuary for rare and migratory birds

Corner Inlet is a haven for birdlife, supporting an estimated 20% of Victoria’s entire wader population. Now linked by intertidal flats, Bullock and Little Dog islands offer crucial safe habitat for several threatened species, including:

Critically Endangered: Far Eastern Curlew, Great Knot, Curlew Sandpiper
Endangered: Lesser Sand Plover, Red Knot
Vulnerable: Hooded Plover, Australian Grayling, Swift Parrot

There is also quiet optimism that the islands may one day support the return of the Orange-bellied Parrot – one of Australia’s rarest birds. NL&S is working closely with BirdLife Australia and Zoos Victoria to monitor for the species’ presence and support its potential recovery.

Why these islands matter to us all

The value of these saltmarsh islands extends far beyond biodiversity. As part of the blue carbon ecosystem, their dense vegetation and deep, silty soils lock away carbon 30 to 50 times faster than terrestrial forests – keeping it stored for thousands of years.

They also provide:

storm surge protection for coastal towns
clean water by filtering nutrients and sediment
fish nurseries vital for local marine species and fisheries.

Protecting them means strengthening climate resilience, food systems and local economies.

A blueprint for community-led conservation

This project demonstrates what’s possible when innovative governance structures meet passion, purpose and place-based conservation.

The NL&S team anticipates further acquisitions to protect and restore connectivity between South Gippsland’s saltmarsh ecosystems as more landholders and philanthropists come on board.

Biolink Coordinator recognised as a trusted voice for nature

by BDL Team | Jul 22, 2025 | Land connection, Media releases, Stewardship

Congratulations to BioDiversity Legacy South Gippsland Biolink Coordinator, Stuart Inchley, who has been selected to join an august list of conservation experts in the new Nature Media Centre, a joint project of the BioDiversity Council, Pew Charitable Trusts and the Australian Land Conservation Alliance.

The Nature Media Centre was recently established as a 'non-partisan resource’ to give journalists access to conservation experts working in areas as diverse as regenerative farming, art and design, land management, ecology, urban planning, academia, citizen science, Indigenous knowledge and even ‘astrotourism’.

Many of these individuals do not have high media profiles yet are highly influential in their local communities and are doing amazing things on the ground. As such, they are well placed to provide insights into the challenges and complexities of environmental protection and management.

In his capacity as Biolink Coordinator, Stuart is connecting landholders – many of whom are working in isolation – across South Gippsland, strengthening communities willing to restore and protect habitat on private land.

With partner Victoria, Stuart also looks after a 300-acre covenant-protected property, Tarwin River Forest, in South Gippsland. The property, which is home to many rare and threatened species such as the Gang-gang Cockatoo, Pilotbird and Strzelecki Burrowing Crayfish, has a significant population of Critically Endangered Slender Tree-ferns in some magnificent cool temperate rainforest gullies.

Stuart and Victoria have first-hand experience of the personal and financial challenges of stewarding private property for conservation, including threats from forestry, climate change and feral animals.

They regularly bring the community together for events on the property, where they share their experiences, their love of these landscapes, community-led solutions and active hope.

Stuart joins Diana Droog, secretary of Land Covenantors Victoria, in the Nature Media Centre as a trusted voice for private land conservation.

We look forward to what Stuart, Diana and others have to say in the coming months as they shine a light on Australia’s unfolding environmental crisis and help newsmakers tell compelling stories that educate and inspire action.

Connecting with communities on Far South Coast of NSW

by BDL Team | Jun 16, 2025 | Partnerships and collaborations, Threatened species

BioDiversity Legacy (BDL) continues to build networks and engage with conservation communities on the Far South Coast of NSW from Eden to Tathra, Bermagui to Moruya, and beyond.

It may be one of the most beautiful regions in Australia, but the Far South Coast faces numerous threats to its biodiversity - from habitat loss to logging, agricultural activities, invasive species and bushfires.

In June, BDL's Head of Conservation Engagement & Partnerships, Dixie Fitzclarence, and Community & Stewardship Manager, Robyn Edwards, headed to the small town of Towamba, near Bega, to meet the community and participate in a workshop aimed at helping them identify critically endangered Threatened Ecological Communities (TEC) within the River Flat Eucalypt Forest.

The event, coordinated by the Towamba Valley Landcare Group in association with the Far South Coast Conservation Management Network, involved presentations by Jackie Miles, a highly knowledgeable local botanist who explained the main diagnostic features of the TEC, South East Local Land Services Officer, and Annie Hobby, who provided an update on the status, range and distribution of this TEC and what communities can do to restore these ecosystems.

Dixie talked about BDL’s role supporting landholders, community groups, environmental organisations and others to protect the land they love for future generations. Robyn’s talk focused on BDL-supported work with Wildlife Unlimited to protect threatened species, including the Spot-tailed Quoll and Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby, as well as plans to extend this work to protect native species across a broad region, from Victoria to the South Coast.

"It was an inspiring day, connecting with landholders who are undertaking protection and restoration activities on their property or in the local landscape, and to share with the community the role BDL has to play in permanent protection through facilitating community ownership of significant biodiverse areas," said Robyn.

The event was supported by the Australian Government Natural Heritage Trust and the Saving Native Species Program delivered by South East Local Land Services, a member of the Commonwealth Regional Delivery Partners panel.

Strengthening wildlife corridors in South Gippsland

by BDL Team | May 13, 2025 | Land connection, Partnerships and collaborations

Community-led landscape connection

Landholders and nature lovers across South Gippsland are helping shape a regional biolink map designed to strengthen wildlife corridors and protect native and threatened species.

Being developed by the South Gippsland Landcare Network (SGLN), the map will provide a bird’s-eye view of the habitat patches, stepping stones and links that need to be protected, restored or reconnected across the landscape.

The project is a key action from SGLN’s 10-year Biodiversity Protection Plan, developed in 2024 with input from across the conservation sector, including our friends and colleagues at Prom Coast Ecolink.

The need for coordinated action is increasingly urgent. Stretching across 262,000 hectares, from the steep Strzelecki Ranges to the lowland coast, South Gippsland retains just 22% of its native vegetation, while 10% of its native species are now threatened.

After securing funding for two key phases of the project, SGLN appointed mapping specialists to gather baseline data. Through the Habitat Near You website, landholders and community members were invited to identify habitat hotspots, sightings of key species and other areas of ecological importance.

This initial phase ran from May to June 2025, with further community consultation continuing in 2026.

BioDiversity Legacy’s South Gippsland Biolink Coordinator and local community member, Stuart Inchley, contributed to the project. He welcomes SGLN’s commitment to involving landholders and communities in decisions about protecting land and reconnecting landscapes through a community-led, tenure-blind approach.

Once completed, the map will provide a strong evidence base for regional planning, help guide future conservation priorities and support greater investment in the natural values of the South Gippsland landscape.

Land Covenantors Victoria unites for conservation

by BDL Team | May 7, 2025 | Partnerships and collaborations

*The following editorial, published by the International Land Conservation Network (ILCN) in March 2025, is by LCV president Peter Mulherin and Australian Land Conservation Alliance Permanent Protection Method Project Manager, Cecilia Riebl, who also acts as Australia’s ILCN Regional Representative

Local Action, Lasting Impact

The following editorial, published by Land Covenantors Victoria (LCV), an organisation energising the private land conservation movement across Victoria and bringing communities together to take meaningful action. Established in 2021 with support from the Rendere Environmental Trust and Trust for Nature, LCV is the first formal network to unite landholders who have adopted conservation covenants and other on-title agreements to protect biodiversity on their properties.

“We are living in a time of great challenge, with biodiversity loss, global warming, political instability and the relentless advance of extractive industries compounding these threats,” said LCV President Peter Mulherin.

“It’s easy to feel overwhelmed. However, by empowering private landowners to take meaningful action within their own communities, we can restore a sense of control and optimism.”

LCV members play an active role in advocating for policy reform. Their efforts include successfully securing automatic land-tax exemptions for landholders with Trust for Nature covenants - an important recognition of the public environmental value these protected areas provide. More broadly, LCV brings together people and organisations with diverse levels of experience and expertise to exchange ideas, share success stories and support peer-based learning.

“One of the most rewarding aspects of this work is being part of a local network of landholders—feeling connected to a community of like-minded individuals making tangible changes to benefit local biodiversity and future generations,” Peter said.

LCV hosts field days and events on properties across the state. In one recent event in Gippsland, Landcare representatives, Trust for Nature, philanthropists, farmers and local politicians gathered in a town hall to hear case studies showcasing conservation initiatives led primarily by volunteers and local landholders.

The photo above shows participants at LCV’s first field day, held at Wirra-lo, a 180-hectare private property in Murrabit. Peter also acknowledges the challenges these organisations face in caring for nature on behalf of the broader community.

“Their work provides immense social and environmental benefits, with no financial reward but enduring value for their communities,” he said.

By fostering collaboration and raising awareness about the importance of conservation covenants, LCV is making real progress toward its long-term vision: a future in which private land conservation is the norm, not the exception.